Pill dispenser

ABSTRACT

A pill dispenser is disclosed that includes a pill-dispensing mechanism, a receptacle, an identifying camera positioned to capture an image of an area adjacent to the pill dispenser, and a processor in operative communication with the pill-dispensing mechanism and the identifying camera.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/739,300, filed May 9, 2022, and entitled PillDispenser, now U.S. Publication No. 2022-0262474, published Aug. 18,2022 (Attorney Docket No. AA845);

-   -   which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.        17/096,275, filed Nov. 12, 2020 and entitled Pill Dispenser, now        U.S. Pat. No. 11,328,803, issued May 10, 2022 (Attorney Docket        No. AA205);    -   which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application        Ser. No. 16/668,172, filed Oct. 30, 2019 and entitled Pill        Dispenser, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,839,953, issued Nov. 17, 2020        (Attorney Docket No. AA060);    -   which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application        Ser. No. 16/239,755, filed Jan. 4, 2019 and entitled Pill        Dispenser, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,468,132, issued Nov. 5, 2019        (Attorney Docket No. Y71);    -   which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application        Ser. No. 15/270,321, filed Sep. 20, 2016 and entitled Pill        Dispenser, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,185,812, issued Jan. 22, 2019        (Attorney Docket No. S78);    -   which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application        Ser. No. 15/077,389, filed Mar. 22, 2016 and entitled Pill        Dispenser, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,465,919, issued Oct. 11, 2016        (Attorney Docket No. R64);    -   which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application        Ser. No. 13/723,235, filed Dec. 21, 2012 and entitled System,        Method, and Apparatus for Dispensing Oral Medications, now U.S.        Pat. No. 9,400,873, issued Jul. 26, 2016 (Attorney Docket No.        J74);    -   which is a Non-Provisional application which claims priority to        and benefit of the following:        -   U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/578,649,            filed Dec. 21, 2011 and entitled System, Method, and            Apparatus for Infusing Fluid (Attorney Docket No. J02);        -   U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/578,658,            filed Dec. 21, 2011 and entitled System, Method, and            Apparatus for Estimating Liquid Delivery (Attorney Docket            No. J04);        -   U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/578,674,            filed Dec. 21, 2011 and entitled System, Method, and            Apparatus for Dispensing Oral Medications (Attorney Docket            No. J05);        -   U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/679,117,            filed Aug. 3, 2012 and entitled System, Method, and            Apparatus for Monitoring, Regulating, or Controlling Fluid            Flow (Attorney Docket No. J30); and        -   U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/651,322,            filed May 24, 2012 and entitled System, Method, and            Apparatus for Electronic Patient Care (Attorney Docket No.            J46), each of which is hereby incorporated herein by            reference in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/723,235, filed Dec. 21, 2012 andentitled System, Method, and Apparatus for Dispensing Oral Medications(Attorney Docket No. J74) is also a Continuation In Part application ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/333,574, filed Dec. 21, 2011 andentitled System, Method, and Apparatus for Electronic Patient Care, nowU.S. Pat. No. 10,453,157, Issued Oct. 22, 2019 (Attorney Docket No.197).

BACKGROUND Relevant Field

The present disclosure relates to dispensing oral medications. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates to a system, method, andapparatus for dispensing oral medications.

Description of Related Art

Medications are taken for many different reasons, such as to treat anillness, relieve pain, keep biological parameters within low risk ranges(e.g., blood pressure), nutritional supplementation, and other reasons.The medication may be taken for a short period of time or for life. Forexample, a person with an ear infection may get a prescription for acertain medication to take for a week. Other times the medication istaken for a long period of time, possibly forever. For example, a personwith high blood pressure may take a certain medication all the time.People taking medication for a long period of time may receive aprescription for a certain quantity of the medication given to thepatient by a pharmacists or physician with possibly one or more refills.After the prescription expires (e.g., all refills are used) the person,or someone caring for them, may need to call a doctor or caregiver toreceive a new prescription. Some medications are given in pill form,which is typically a small capsule of medication designed to be takenorally or may be a suppository. A pill for the purposes of thesedescriptions may be a prescription drug, an over-the-counter medication,a vitamin, a nutritional supplement, or any other tablet like objectwhich is designed to be taken by the user.

The status of the prescription needs to be tracked to ensure that theprescription doesn't expire. A doctor's appointment may be necessary toget the prescription renewed (or possibly modified). Depending on thetype of insurance, the medication, and/or the pharmacy (e.g.,brick-and-mortar, mail order, etc.), the prescription may need to befilled in advance of the time that the medication will be needed.

Many users need to take a variety of different medications. Themedications may need to be taken at different times (e.g., days, hours,etc.) and in different quantities. Medication organizers are utilized toassist in tracking the medications that they need to take. Theorganizers may come in various styles. For example, they may includecontainers where each container includes the medication that they takefor a certain period (e.g., hour, day, etc.).

Certain prescriptions may require the user to monitor and/or measurecertain body parameters (e.g., blood sugar) and to bring theseparameters to the doctor for review when it is time to renew or modifythe prescription. This may require the user to keep detailed records andremember to bring them to the doctor. Some users may have limitedmobility so that getting to the pharmacy to get a prescription filled orgetting to the doctor to provide the tracked parameters may be ahardship.

SUMMARY

In one aspect of the present disclosure, a pill dispenser includes ahousing, a pill-dispensing mechanism, a receptacle, a first pill-viewingcamera, an identifying camera, one or more processors, and a storagemedium. The housing defines an opening. The pill-dispensing mechanism isdisposed within the housing and is operatively coupled to the opening.The receptacle is operatively coupled to the housing. The receptacle maybe a cup holder configured to receive a cup. The first pill-viewingcamera is positioned to capture an image of the receptacle. Theidentifying camera is positioned to capture an image of an area adjacentto the housing. The identifying camera may be a panning camera. Thestorage medium may include instructions for identifying a face (e.g.,the position of the face) as indicated by the panning camera and panningthe camera towards the face to center the face. The one or moreprocessors are in operative communication with the pill-dispensingmechanism, the first pill-viewing camera, and the identifying camera.

The storage medium stores one or more processor-executable instructions(e.g., executable by the one or more processors) for: instructing thepill-dispensing mechanism to dispense a pill; instructing the firstpill-viewing camera to capture a first image of the pill; determining apresence of the pill within the first image; instructing the firstpill-viewing camera to capture a second image; determining an absence ofthe pill within the second image; and instructing the identifying camerato capture a third image. In some specific embodiments, the presence ofthe pill within the first image (e.g., the image of the pill is withinthe first image) and the absence of the pill within the second image(e.g., the image of the pill is not within the second image) may be usedto determine compliance (e.g., presence and absence within a time framemay be considered as compliance and/or may be a prerequisite for adetermination of compliance). The storage medium may includeinstructions for identifying an authorized user and the pill within thethird image to determine compliance, identifying an authorized user anda bottom of a cup within the third image to determine compliance, and/ordecoding a bar code within the third image.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenser isconfigured for insertion into a dock. The dock may supply power to thepill dispenser and a communications link to a monitoring client.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the storage medium furthercomprises processor-executable instructions configured for execution bythe at least one processor for determining compliance has occurred ifthe first image includes an image of the pill and the second image doesnot include another image of the pill.

The storage medium may include instructions for instructing theidentifying camera to capture the third image after a predeterminedamount of time after the pill is dispensed by the pill-dispensingmechanism.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenser includesa button operatively coupled to the housing. The button is in operativecommunication with the one or more processors. The storage medium mayfurther include instructions for dispensing the pill only when thebutton is pressed and/or for instructing the identifying camera tocapture the third image when the button is pressed (e.g., to capture animage of the person pressing the button, for example). Additionally oralternatively, the storage medium may include instructions forinstructing the identifying camera to capture a plurality of imagesincluding the third image in accordance with a predetermined schedulewhen the button is pressed. The unauthorized user may be determinedduring an authorization algorithm to authorize the dispensing of thepill.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the storage medium mayinclude instructions for instructing the identifying camera to capture aseries of images until the at least one processor identifies thepresence of at least one face in a captured image of the series ofcaptured images when the button is pressed. The storage medium mayinclude instructions for issuing an alert in response to the determinedunauthorized user.

The storage medium may include instructions for determining that a facewithin the third image is an unauthorized user and communicating thethird image and an indication that the unauthorized user is within thethird image to a server.

The pill dispenser may include a storage medium having instructions forstoring the third image in the storage medium and/or encrypting thethird image within the storage medium. The third image may be encryptedusing a public key of a pair of asymmetrical encryption keys. Theencrypted third image may be communicated to a server via acommunication component of the pill dispenser.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the storage medium mayinclude instructions for determining whether a face within the thirdimage is an authorized user and communicating the third image to aserver with an indication of whether the face within the third image isauthorized.

In yet another aspect, the pill dispenser includes a speaker disposedwithin the housing. The one or more processors may be in communicationwith the speaker (e.g., to control the speaker). The storage medium mayinclude instructions for instructing the speaker to audibly sound areminder when the second image includes the pill and a predeterminedamount of time has elapsed. Additionally or alternatively, the storagemedium may include instructions for playing a user recorded message toremind a patient to take the pill.

In some aspects of the present disclosure, the storage medium mayinclude instructions for identifying the pill using the first image. Thepill may be identified based on a color of the pill, a shape of thepill, characters on the pill, and a plurality of colors of the pill.Additionally or alternatively, the pill may be based upon an estimatedweight from a scale integrated into the receptacle. The processor mayestimate the weight of the pill by subtracting an estimated weight of acup disposed within the receptacle.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenserincludes a second pill-viewing camera positioned to capture an image ofthe pill, e.g., through a transparent cup bottom. The secondpill-viewing camera may be disposed within the receptacle and/or coupledto the receptacle. The storage medium may include instructions forinstructing the second pill-viewing camera to capture a fourth imageincluding the pill and identifying the pill using the first and fourthimages. The one or more processors may identify the pill using at leastone of a color of the pill, a shape of the pill, characters on the pill,and a plurality of colors of the pill as determined using the first andfourth images. For example, a pill may have three colors thatdistinguish it as compared to all other known pills; if one or more ofthe pill-viewing cameras identify all three colors, the processor mayuse those identified three colors to determine the type of pill.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the storage medium mayinclude instructions for instructing the second pill-viewing camera tocapture a fourth image including the pill and determining complianceutilizing the first and fourth images of the pill.

In yet an additional aspect of the present disclosure, the pilldispenser may also include a touch screen. The one or more processorsmay be in operative communication with the touch screen. The storagemedium may include instructions for instructing the touch screen todisplay a pre-stored image of a prescribed pill on the touch screenabout when the at least one processor instructs the pill-dispensingmechanism to dispense the pill.

The storage medium may further comprise processor-executableinstructions configured for execution by the at least one processor forinstructing the touch screen to display a user-selectable promptrequesting user confirmation that the pre-stored image of the prescribedpill on the touch screen matches the dispensed pill.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenser mayinclude a speaker disposed within the housing. The one or moreprocessors may be in operative communication with the speaker. Thestorage medium may include instructions for instructing the speaker toaudibly sound a reminder when a predetermined amount of time has passedand no user confirmation of the user-selectable prompt has occurred.

In yet an additional aspect of the present disclosure, the storagemedium may include instructions for instructing the pill-dispensingmechanism to dispense a plurality of pills in accordance with apredetermined schedule. The pill-dispensing mechanism may automaticallydispense the plurality of pills when each respective pill is scheduledfor being dispensed according to the predetermined schedule.

The storage medium may include instructions to log a determinedcompliance and store a log entry in the storage medium. The log entrymay include at least one of voice data of a user used to authenticatethe user, an image of the user used to authenticate the user, an imageof the pill from the first pill-viewing camera, an image of the pillfrom a second pill-viewing camera, a location of the pill-dispensingmechanism, a time stamp, a date stamp, a patient ID from an RFID tag, anurse ID from another RFID tag, an ambient temperature value, and/or anambient light value.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenser includesa biometric identification component in operative communication with theone or more processors. The storage medium may include instructions forauthenticating a user using biometric data from the biometricidentification component. The biometric identification component is oneof a microphone, a camera, a fingerprint scanner, a hand scanner, aniris scanner, and a retina scanner. Additionally, in some embodiments,the storage medium may include instructions for: communicating with aserver having electronic medical records stored therein using thecommunication component; querying an electronic medical record entry ofthe server; and determining if the biometric data from the biometricidentification component corresponds to the user as indicated by theelectronic medical records.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenser includesa microphone and a speaker in operative communication with the one ormore processors. The storage medium may include instructions for:instructing the speaker to play an audio recording requesting a sequenceof words be spoken; recording sound using the microphone; andauthenticating a user in accordance with the sound, wherein the at leastone processor authenticates the user when a voice in the soundcorresponds to an authorized user.

The storage medium may include instructions for communicating with aserver having electronic medical records stored therein using thecommunication component; querying an electronic medical record entry ofthe electronic medical records of the server for at least one authorizeduser of the pill dispenser; and determining if a voice in the recordedsound corresponds to a user of the at least one authorized user asindicated by the electronic medical records entry.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenser mayinclude a scanner configured to identify a user and/or determine if theuser is an authorized user. The scanner may be one of a barcode scanner,a camera adapted to read a barcode, an RFID transponder, and/or a laserbarcode scanner.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenserincludes a communication component, e.g., a transceiver, in operativecommunication with the one or more processors. The storage medium mayinclude instructions for relaying data from a patient-care device to aserver using the communication component.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill-dispensingmechanism may be coupled to one or more one pill cartridges (e.g.,three) each configured to dispense a plurality of pills. The pillcartridge may include a memory preprogrammed with a dispensing schedule.The memory is in operative communication with the processor. The memorymay be part of the computer-readable medium or is separate therefrom.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenserincludes a button operatively coupled to the housing and in operativecommunication with the one or more processors. The storage medium mayinclude instructions for: alerting a user of a scheduled pill dispensein accordance with a predetermined schedule; authenticating the user;instructing the pill-dispensing mechanism to dispense a pill inaccordance with the scheduled pill dispense when the button is pressedand the user is authorized; and determining compliance of the scheduledpill dispense.

The alert may include an audible sound from a speaker that includes areminder that the scheduled pill dispense has occurred in accordancewith the predetermined schedule.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenserincludes a speaker disposed within the housing and a global positioningsystem component. The one or more processors may be in operativecommunication with the speaker and the global positioning systemcomponent. The global positioning system component determines a positionof the pill dispenser and communicates the position to the one or moreprocessors (e.g., directly or through a memory, such as thecomputer-readable medium). The storage medium may include instructionsfor: determining if the position of the pill dispenser is within apredetermined authorized area as determined by the global positioningsystem component; and instructing the speaker to audibly sound an alertthat the pill dispenser is outside the predetermined authorized area.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenserincludes a communication component in operative communication with theone or more processors and the global positioning system component bothoperatively coupled to the one or more processors. The globalpositioning system component is configured to determine a position ofthe pill dispenser. The storage medium may include instructions for:determining if the position of the pill dispenser is within apredetermined authorized area as determined by the global positioningsystem component; and communicating to a server that the pill dispenseris outside the predetermined authorized area via the communicationcomponent.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenser includesa communication component and a global positioning system component bothin operative communication with the one or more processors. The storagemedium may include instructions for communicating to a server theposition of the pill dispenser via the communication component.

The storage medium may include instructions for: determining a positionof the pill dispenser via the global positioning system component;determining a position of a user; and dispensing a pill only when thepill dispenser and a user are within a predetermined distance betweeneach other.

The pill dispenser may have a removable screen and/or a communicationmodule may be attachable to the pill dispenser. In some embodiments,several communication modules are attachable to the pill dispenserand/or are attachable together and then attachable to the pilldispenser.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenserincludes a non-volatile memory in operative communication with the oneor more processors. The one or more processors can store one or moreoperating parameters within the non-volatile memory thereby allowing thepill dispenser to recover from a power failure. For example, the one ormore processors can store the dispensing schedule and an inventory ofthe pills within the pill cartridges within the non-volatile memory.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenserincludes a scanner configured to identify a prescription. The scanner isone of a barcode scanner, a camera adapted to read a barcode, an RFIDtransponder, and a laser barcode scanner.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenserincludes a wireless-power receiver configured to receive wireless powerand power at least one circuit within the pill dispenser.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a bill iselectronically communicated via a transceiver to a transaction serverwhen a pill is dispensed.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenserincludes an RFID interrogator. The storage medium may includeinstructions to store a log entry in an RFID tag via the RFIDinterrogator. The log entry may include one or more of voice data of auser used to authenticate the user, an image of the user used toauthenticate the user, an image of the pill from the first pill-viewingcamera, an image of the pill from a second pill-viewing camera, alocation of the pill-dispensing mechanism, a time stamp, a date stamp, apatient ID from an RFID tag, a nurse ID from another RFID tag, anambient-temperature value, and/or an ambient-light value.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenser isin operative communication with one or more patient-care devices. Thepill dispenser may monitor one or more patient-care parameters todetermine the efficacy of the pills being dispensed. Additionally oralternatively, the pill dispenser may upload the one or morepatient-care parameters to a server that can determine efficacy of thepill.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the pill dispenserincludes a communication component in operative communication with theone or more processors. The storage medium may include instructions forrelaying a patient-care parameter from a patient-care device via thecommunication component.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a pill dispenserincludes a housing, a pill-dispensing mechanism, a display, one or moreprocessors, and a storage medium. The housing defines an opening. Thepill-dispensing mechanism is disposed within the housing and isoperatively coupled to the opening. The one or more processors are inoperative communication with the pill-dispensing mechanism and thedisplay. The storage medium stores processor-executable instructionsconfigured for execution by the one or more processors for displaying agraphic illustrating an image of a patient taking a pill. The graphicmay be illustrated after a button is pressed and/or after a pill isdispensed.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a pill dispenserincludes a housing, a pill-dispensing mechanism, a communicationcomponent, such as a transceiver, one or more processors, and a storagemedium. The housing defines an opening. The pill-dispensing mechanism isdisposed within the housing and is operatively coupled to the opening.The one or more processors are in operative communication with thepill-dispensing mechanism and the communication component. The storagemedium stores processor-executable instructions configured for executionby the one or more processors for determining if one or more pillswithin the housing are contraindicated as determined via at least one ofan electronic medical record and a drug error reduction system accessedvia the communication component.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a system for dispensingoral medications includes a pill dispenser and a monitoring client. Themonitoring client may communicate a pill dispensing schedule to the pilldispenser.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a system for dispensingoral medications includes a pill dispenser configured to dispense a pilland a plurality of monitoring clients in operative communication withthe pill dispenser. A monitoring client of the plurality of monitoringclients is authorized to communicate a pill dispensing schedule to thepill dispenser.

In an aspect of the present disclosure, a system for dispensing oralmedications includes a pill dispenser configured to dispense a pill anda monitoring client in operative communication with the pill dispenser.The monitoring client may receive one or more images from the pilldispenser. The monitoring client may communicate one or more dispensecommands to the pill dispenser thereby causing the pill dispenser todispense the pill. The monitoring client may authorize a user using acamera and may communicate at least one dispense command to the pilldispenser in response to the authorized user. The monitoring client mayauthorize a user using a microphone and may communicate one or moredispense commands to the pill dispenser in response to the authorizeduser.

The monitoring client may be an authorized monitoring client of aplurality of monitoring clients. The user interface of the monitoringclient may be used to associate the monitoring client with one or morepill dispensers to monitor the pill dispenser and/or to send email, textmessages, or other messages to the pill dispensers, etc. For example,the pill dispenser may be used to create an address book of pilldispensers to monitor the operation of the pill dispensers (e.g.,compliance and/or dosage tracking), to communicate with the pilldispensers, and/or to determine which patients associated with each ofthe pill dispensers is non-compliant. The pill dispenser may communicatecompliance data to the monitoring client. The monitoring client canupdate a prescription and communicate the updated prescription to thepill dispenser wherein the pill dispenser modifies a pill dispensingschedule in accordance with the updated prescription. The pill dispensermay communicate an electronic message to the monitoring client when thepill dispenser determines that non-compliance has occurred. One of thepill dispenser and the monitoring client may initiate two-waycommunications when the pill dispenser determines that non-compliancehas occurred. The monitoring client can display a calendar displayingcompliant days and noncompliant days.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a system for dispensingoral medications includes a pill dispenser configured to dispense apill, an audio/visual device in operative communication with the pilldispenser, and a monitoring client in operative communication with thepill dispenser. The pill dispenser and the monitoring client areconfigured for two-way communications, and the pill dispenser utilizesthe audio/visual device in the two-way communications.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a system for dispensingoral medications includes a plurality of pill dispensers each having acamera, a server for receiving at least one image from each camera, anda terminal for displaying the at least one image for user determinationof compliance.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a system for dispensingoral medications includes a pill dispenser and a monitoring clienthaving a camera. The monitoring client is configured to capture an imageof a pill to identify the pill and communicate the identified pill to atleast one of a server and the pill dispenser.

The server and/or the pill dispenser determines if the pill meetspredetermined safety criteria in accordance with one or more pillsscheduled for being dispensed by the pill dispenser. The monitoringclient compares the identified pill with a schedule to determinecompliance. The monitoring client logs the determined compliance.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a system includes apill dispenser and a monitoring client having a scanner. The monitoringclient is configured to scan a label (e.g., of a bottle of pills) toidentify a medication and/or a prescription. The monitoring client cancommunicate the identified pill or prescription to a server and/or thepill dispenser. The server and the pill dispenser is configured todetermine if the pill meets predetermined safety criteria in accordancewith one or more pills scheduled for being dispensed by the pilldispenser.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a system for dispensingoral medications includes a pill dispenser and a monitoring client. Themonitoring client issues a reminder to take a pill dispensed by the pilldispenser. The monitoring client is in operative communication with thepill dispenser to determine if the pill has been taken, and themonitoring client issues another reminder if the pill has not been takenafter a predetermined amount of time.

The monitoring client can execute a compliance determination algorithm.Compliance may be determined by viewing a camera on the pill dispenserfrom the monitoring client; by patient confirmation on the pilldispenser; by patient confirmation on the monitoring client; and/or by apill-viewing camera.

The pill dispenser may include a microphone and a speaker. Themonitoring client may transmit audio data played as sound via thespeaker and the monitoring client receives audio from the microphone.For example, the monitoring client may be a Smartphone that canestablish two-way audio communications between the monitoring client andSmartphone. The pill dispenser and the monitoring client may beconfigured for two-way audio and visual communications therebetween,e.g., via video conferencing. The monitoring client may prompt a userfor a compliance determination (e.g., a pop-up dialog may ask “Did youtake your pill?” with selectable yes and no buttons). The compliancedetermination may be logged by at least one of the pill dispenser andthe monitoring client.

The system includes a monitoring client, a pharmacy computer, apill-loading robot, a pill dispenser, and a data download device. Themonitoring client is configured to communicate a prescription order viaa user interface. The pharmacy computer is in operative communicationwith the monitoring client to receive the prescription order.

The pill-loading robot is in operative communication with the pharmacycomputer to receive the prescription. The pill dispenser has a memoryand is configured to house one or more pills corresponding to theprescription order. The pill-loading robot is configured to insert theone or more pills into the pill dispenser in accordance with theprescription. The data download device is in operative communicationwith the pharmacy computer to receive the prescription order. The datadownload device is configured to download the prescription order fromthe pharmacy computer into the memory of the pill dispenser. The datadownload device may be operatively coupled to the pill-loading robotsuch that the pill-loading robot instructs the data download device todownload the prescription order into the pill dispenser.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a system for preparinga pill dispenser includes a monitoring client, a pharmacy computer, acompounding robot, a pill dispenser, and a data download device. Themonitoring client is configured to communicate a prescription order viaa user interface. The pharmacy computer is in operative communicationwith the monitoring client to receive the prescription order. Thecompounding robot is configured to prepare the prescription into one ormore pills corresponding to the prescription order. The compoundingrobot may receive the prescription order from the pharmacy computer. Thepill dispenser receives the one or more pills corresponding to theprescription order. The data download device is configured to downloadthe prescription order into a memory of the pill dispenser. The datadownload device may receive the prescription order from the compoundingrobot and/or the pharmacy computer. The compounding robot may load theone or more pills into the pill dispenser. In some embodiments, the datadownload device is operatively coupled to the compounding robot suchthat the compounding robot instructs the data download device todownload the prescription order into the pill dispenser.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for dispensinga pill includes: instructing a pill-dispensing mechanism to dispense apill; instructing a first pill-viewing camera to capture a first imageof the pill; determining a presence of the pill within the first image;instructing the first pill-viewing camera to capture a second image;determining an absence of the pill within the second image; instructingan identifying camera to capture a third image; and identifying a userusing the third image.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, a pill dispenser includes abody and a camera. The body has a plurality of recesses each adapted toreceive a pill container. The camera is positioned to capture an imageof a pill container disposed within a recess of the plurality ofrecesses. A processor may be coupled to the camera to read a labeldisposed on an inserted pill container inserted into a recess of theplurality of recesses. The processor may determine one or moreparameters including one or more of: a dosage value, a refill date, arefill time, characters on the label, a time of insertion of the pillcontainer, a date of insertion of the pill container, a number of pillsin the pill container, and/or a date of filling a prescription using animage of a label on a inserted pill container inserted into a recess ofthe plurality of recesses. The parameter is communicated to a monitoringclient.

The pill dispenser may have another camera disposed on a periphery ofthe body. The pill dispenser may have a touch screen configured toprovide a user interface (e.g., disposed within the center of theplurality of recesses as viewed from the top).

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a pill dispenserincludes a housing, a pill-dispensing mechanism, a pill-dispensinginstructor, a receptacle, a first pill-viewing camera, an identifyingcamera, and an image analysis unit.

The housing defines an opening. The pill-dispensing mechanism isdisposed within the housing and is operatively coupled to the opening.The pill-dispensing instructor is arranged to instruct thepill-dispensing mechanism to dispense a pill. The receptacle isoperatively coupled to the housing. The first pill-viewing camera ispositioned to capture an image of the receptacle and is arranged tocapture a first image and a second image. The identifying camera ispositioned to capture an image of an area adjacent to the housing and isarranged to capture a third image. The image analysis unit is arrangedto determine whether a pill is present within the first image andwhether a pill is present within the second image.

The pill dispenser may further comprise a compliance determining unitarranged to determine that compliance has occurred if the first imageincludes an image of the pill and the second image does not include animage of the pill.

The identifying camera may be arranged to capture the third image apredetermined amount of time after the pill-dispensing instructorinstructs the pill-dispensing mechanism to dispense a pill.

The pill dispenser may further comprise a button operatively coupled tothe housing. The pill dispenser may be configured such that: (1) whenthe button is pressed, the pill-dispensing instructor instructs thepill-dispenser to dispense a pill; (2) when the button is pressed, theidentifying camera captures the third image; and/or (3) when the buttonis pressed, the identifying camera captures a plurality of imagesincluding the third image in accordance with a predetermined schedule.

The image analysis unit may be arranged to identify whether at least oneface is present in an image captured by the identifying camera. The pilldispenser may be configured such that when the button is pressed, theidentifying camera captures a series of images until the image analysisunit identifies the presence of at least one face in a captured image ofthe series of captured images.

The pill dispenser may further comprise a storage medium. And, the pilldispenser may be arranged to store the third image in the storage mediumand encrypt the third image within the storage medium. The stored thirdimage may be encrypted using a public key of a pair of asymmetricalencryption keys. The pill dispenser may further comprise a transmitterarranged to transmit the encrypted third image to a server.

The image analysis unit may be arranged to determine whether a facewithin the third image is an authorized user, and the pill dispenserfurther comprises a transmitter which is arranged to communicate thethird image to a server with an indication of whether the face withinthe third image is authorized.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, a pill dispenserincludes a housing, a pill-dispensing mechanism, a pill viewinglocation, first and second pill-viewing cameras, one or more processors,and a storage medium. The housing defines an opening. Thepill-dispensing mechanism is disposed within the housing and isconfigured to dispense a pill. The pill viewing location is operativelycoupled to the pill-dispensing mechanism. The first pill-viewing camerais positioned to capture an image of the pill viewing location. Thesecond pill-viewing camera is positioned to capture an image of the pillthrough a transparent window associated with the pill viewing location.The one or more processors are in operative communication with thepill-dispensing mechanism and the first pill-viewing camera. The storagemedium for storing processor-executable instructions is configured forexecution by the one or more processors to cause the one or moreprocessors to: instruct the pill-dispensing mechanism to dispense a pillto the pill viewing area; instruct the first pill-viewing camera tocapture a first image of the pill; instruct the second pill-viewingcamera to capture a second image of the pill; and identify the pillusing the first and second images.

The one or more processors may identify the pill using one or more of acolor of the pill, a shape of the pill, characters on the pill, and aplurality of colors of the pill as determined using the first and fourthimages.

The pill viewing area may be external to the housing or internal to thehousing. The instructions may cause the one or more processors todispense the pill to a pill holding area outside of the housing.

The pill dispenser may include a scale. The one or more processors maybe in operative communication with the scale to receive a weighttherefrom. The instructions may cause the one or more processors toidentify the pill based upon, at least in part, an estimated weight ofthe pill using the scale. The weight of the pill may be determined bysubtracting an estimated weight of the pill holder from the weightreceived by the scale.

The instructions may cause the one or more processors to not dispensethe pill unless the identity of the pill is determined to be appropriatebased on information from one or more of an electronic medical record, adrug error reduction system, and/or a monitoring client.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, a pill dispenserincludes a housing, a pill viewing location, a pill-dispensingmechanism, a door mechanism, a pill-viewing camera, one or moreprocessors, and a storage medium. The housing defines an opening. Thepill viewing location is disposed within the housing and is operativelycoupled to the opening. The pill-dispensing mechanism is disposed withinthe housing and is configured to dispense a pill into the pill viewinglocation. The door mechanism is associated with the pill viewinglocation and is configured to hold the pill within the pill viewinglocation and dispense the pill through the opening. The pill-viewingcamera is positioned to capture an image of the pill viewing location.The one or more processors are in operative communication with thepill-dispensing mechanism, the pill-viewing camera, and the doormechanism. The storage medium for storing processor-executableinstructions is configured for execution by the one or more processorsto cause the one or more processors to: instruct the pill-dispensingmechanism to dispense a pill to the pill viewing area; instruct thepill-viewing camera to capture an image of the pill; verify the pillusing the image; and instruct the door mechanism to dispense the pillfrom the pill viewing location through the opening after the pill isverified using the image.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects will become more apparent from the followingdetailed description of the various embodiments of the presentdisclosure with reference to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 shows an illustration of an electronic patient-care system havinga pill dispenser in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 shows the pill dispenser of FIG. 1 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a system for controlling the pilldispenser of FIG. 2 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the server of FIG. 1 in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a pill dispenser having a plurality of vertical windows inaccordance with an additional embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 6-7 show a pill dispenser having a plurality of vertical windowsbelow a touch screen in accordance with an additional embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a pill dispenser having a plurality of vertical windowsbelow a touch screen and an elongated receptacle in accordance with anadditional embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a pill dispenser having a dispensing mechanism thatdispenses one or more cartridges in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 10 shows pill cartridges of FIG. 9 in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 shows a pill dispenser having a secondary housing along a sidethereof in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 shows a pill dispenser having a housing coupled to the cartridgeand in sliding engagement with the cartridge in accordance with anadditional embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 shows a pill dispenser having a sliding-door for receiving thepill in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 14A-14B show two views of a pill dispenser capable of receivingpill bottles as pill cartridges in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 15 shows a pill-dispensing mechanism in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 16 shows a flow chart diagram of a method for dispensing a pill inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary arrangement of a system 1 for electronicpatient care in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.The system 1 includes a monitoring client 2 (e.g., Smartphone, IPod,IPad, Blackberry-OS based phone or device, Android-based phone ordevice, tablet computer, laptop, PDA, an audio/visual device such atelevision with an adapter having a processor and communicationscapability, etc.) that is linked to a number of patient-care devices viadocks 3 and 11, including an infusion pump 4 connected to and deliveringfrom a smaller bag of liquid 5, an infusion pump 6 connected to anddelivering from a larger bag of liquid 7, a drip-detection device 8connected to tubing from the smaller bag 5, and a microinfusion pump 9.System 1 also includes a pill dispenser 10 connected wirelessly to themonitoring client 2. In some embodiments, the monitoring client 2 maycommunicate with these patient-care devices in a wired fashion, as shownin FIG. 1 for the infusion pumps 4 and 6, the microinfusion pump 9 (viadocks 3 and 11), and the pill dispenser 10. Additionally oralternatively, the monitoring client 2 may communicate wirelessly withpatient-care devices, as suggested by the absence of a wired connectionbetween the drip-detection device 8 and the monitoring client 2.

For example, the communications between the pill dispenser 10 and themonitoring client 1 may be via a USB cable coupled between the dock 3and the pill dispenser 10. Other wired or wireless communications may bemade between the monitoring client 2 and the pill dispenser 10,including parallel or serial communications, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, meshnetworking, Bluetooth (e.g., via pairing), FireWire, fiber optics, orusing any known communication protocol, method or technology. Forexample, the pill dispenser 10 and the monitoring client 2 maycommunicate over a USB cable, and in the event that communication viathe USB cable is unavailable between the monitoring client 2 and thepill dispenser 10, the pill dispenser 10 and the monitoring client 2 maycommunicate wirelessly. In some embodiments of the present disclosure,the pill dispenser 10 may have a communication module attached theretoenabling the pill dispenser 10 to communicate using a protocolfunctionality provided by the communication module and/or severalcommunication modules may be connected together and then connected tothe pill dispenser enabling the pill dispenser 10 to communicate via theseveral communication modules.

In some embodiments, a wired connection between the monitoring client 2and a patient-care device also affords an opportunity for electricalpower to be supplied to the patient-care device from the monitoringclient 2. In this exemplary embodiment, the monitoring client 2 mayinclude the electronic circuitry necessary to convert a voltage sourceto power the patient-care device, e.g., the pill dispenser 10, fromeither a battery attached to the monitoring client 2 or from anAlternative Current (“AC”) line voltage fed into the monitoring client 2from a power outlet (not shown) in a patient's room. Additionally oralternatively, in some embodiments, the pill dispenser 10 may beelectrically coupled to the dock 4 (e.g., via a USB cable) whichsupplies power to the infusion pumps 4 and 6, to the microinfusion pump9, and/or to the pill dispenser 10 e.g., from a signal generated from anAC line voltage.

The dock 3 may be configured to receive one or more patient-care devicesvia a standardized connection mount or, in some cases, via a connectionmount individualized for the particular device. For example, infusionpumps 4 and 6 may be mounted to the dock 3 via a similar connectionmount, whereas the microinfusion pump 9, for example, may be mounted tothe dock 3 via a connection mount configured for the particulardimensions of the microinfusion pump's 9 housing. In some embodiments,the pill dispenser 10 is mountable to the dock 4.

In an embodiment, the monitoring client 2 is capable of receivinginformation about each patient-care device with which it is linkedeither directly from the device itself or via a docking station, suchas, for example, the pill dispenser 10 may supply information storedtherein to the dock 3 using a wired or wireless connection, which isthen relayed to the monitoring client 2. The docks 3 or 4 may beconfigured to electronically identify the particular patient-care devicebeing mounted on the docking station and to transmit this identifyinginformation to the monitoring client 2, either wirelessly or through awired connection. Additionally or alternatively, wireless patient-caredevices may transmit the identifying information wirelessly to themonitoring client 2, e.g., during a discovery protocol.

For example, the pill dispenser 10 may be preprogrammed with treatmentinformation, such as a pill dispensing schedule, a pill to be dispensed,the type and number of pills contained therein, etc., that istransmitted to the monitoring client 2. Additionally or alternatively,other information from the pill dispenser 10 may be communicated to themonitoring client 2, such as a list of authorized users or caregiversand their associated authentication information, location information,information from a scanner of the pill dispenser such as barcodesscanned by a camera 14 of the pill dispenser 10, RFID data from an RFIDinterrogator of the pill dispenser 10, microphone data, sensor data asdescribed herein (e.g., see FIG. 3 ), or information related to theoperation and control of the pill dispenser 10. Additionally oralternatively, logs and/or diagnostic information may be communicatedfrom the pill dispenser 10 to the monitoring client 2.

In some embodiments, the pill dispenser 10 may be programmable to allowfor continued operation at a predetermined pill dispensing scheduleshould communications fail between the monitoring client 2 and the pilldispenser 10 because of a malfunction in the monitoring client 2, in thecommunications channel between the monitoring client 2 and the pilldispenser 10, or in the pill dispenser 10 itself. In some embodiments,this independent option is enabled when the medication being dispensedis pre-designated for not being suspended or held in the event of amalfunction in other parts of the system. In some embodiments, the pilldispenser 10 is programmed to operate independently in a fail-safe mode.

The pill dispenser 10 may include one or more (e.g., three) drugcartridges that are inserted therein, which can dispense one or morepills. The pill dispenser 10 can dispense drugs by manually pressing thedispense button 18, automatically at preprogrammed or specified times,or by alerting a caregiver to authorize the dispensing. The pilldispenser 10 can log compliance and can track controlled substances toreduce thefts, e.g., through RFID tags, serial number logging, etc.

In some embodiments, operation of the pill dispenser 10, or errors,alerts or alarms of the pill dispenser 10 may be communicated to themonitoring client 2, either wirelessly or in a wired connection. Forexample, if a scheduled pill to be dispensed is not being dispensed bythe pill dispenser 10 (e.g., because of a mechanical malfunction of thepill dispenser 10) or a patient is being noncompliant: (1) a signal maybe transmitted to the monitoring client 2, which may trigger an auditoryor visual alarm, display the type of error, or display a reminder to auser to take the pill on a user interface of the monitoring client 2 inresponse to noncompliance; (2) a user interface of the pill dispenser10, such as a touch screen 15, may display the type of error that hasoccurred or a reminder for the user to take the pill in response tononcompliance; (3) a remote user interface, such as at a nurse's stationor other remote monitoring location, or a handheld communications devicemay display the type of error that has occurred or a notification ofpatient noncompliance; (4) the pill dispenser 10 may trigger an auditoryor visual alarm; and/or (5) the pill dispenser 10 may alter the pilldispensing schedule to compensate for the medication not being taken(e.g., by adding “catch-up” doses or as modified remotely by a physicianin response to a communicated alarm or noncompliance indication via aremote monitoring client, such as a smart phone).

The alarms, alerts, or reminders may occur simultaneously on severaldevices or may follow a predetermined schedule. For example, when anerror occurs within the pill dispenser 10 and/or a user is not taking ascheduled pill (such as non-compliance): (1) the pill dispenser mayalarm, issue an alert, or issue a reminder in response to noncomplianceusing its internal speaker and an internal vibration motor, (2) next,the monitoring client 2 may alarm, issue an alert, or issue a reminderin response to noncompliance using its internal speaker and an internalvibration motor, and (3) finally, a remote communicator (e.g., a smartphone, blackberry-based phone, Android-based phone, iPhone, etc.) mayissue an alarm or issue an alert using its internal speaker and aninternal vibration motor or may indicate to the user the patient'snoncompliance.

The pill dispenser 10 includes a touch screen 15 and a dispense button18. The touch screen 15 may be detachable and may be used to programtreatment regimes, a pill dispensing schedule, or other treatmentparameters by an authorized user (in some embodiments, the dispensingschedule is preprogrammed at a pharmacy, such as by a pill-loadingrobot, a compounding robot or a data download device, or the dispensingschedule is downloaded from the electronic medical records 17 of theserver 16 directly or through the monitoring client 2 when authorized,for example).

After a treatment regime (e.g., a pill dispensing schedule) isprogrammed into the pill dispenser 10, the pill dispenser 10 may query adatabase 19 (e.g., Electronic Medical Records (“EMR”) 17 or Drug ErrorReduction System (“DERS”) 20 of FIG. 2 , or other database) to determineif the treatment regime is safe for the particular patient or for anypatient. For example, the pill dispenser 10 may query the EMR database17 (e.g., via a wireless link, a wired link, Wi-Fi, a cell-phonenetwork, or other communications technology) to determine if thetreatment regime from the pill dispenser 10 is safe based upon patientinformation stored (e.g., age, weight, allergies, condition, etc.) inthe EMR's 17 records. Additionally or alternatively, the pill dispenser10 may query the DERS 20 database of the server 16 (e.g., via a wirelesslink, wired link, Wi-Fi, cell-phone network, or other communicationstechnology) to determine if the treatment regime from the pill dispenser10 is safe based upon predetermined safety criteria in the DERS 20records.

The pills being dispensed and taken by a patient may be monitored by themonitoring client 2 to determine if all the medications being deliveredare safe for the patient. For example: (1) the monitoring client 2 maylog the medication delivered from the pill dispenser 10 as communicatedby the pill dispenser 10 to the monitoring client 2, and (2) themonitoring client 2 may also log the medication being delivered by theinfusion pumps 4 and 6, and/or the microinfusion pump 9. The monitoringclient 2 may make a determination from the logged data to determine ifthe aggregate amounts and types of medication being delivered are safe.For example, the monitoring client 2 may determine if the IV bag 5 iscontraindicated with the medication in the pill dispenser 10.Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the monitoringclient 2 may monitor the delivery of the liquid in the IV bag 5 and oneor more pills delivered by the pill dispenser 10 to determine if thetotal dose exceeds a predetermined threshold, e.g., the medication inthe IV bag 5 and pill dispenser 10 may be the same type or class ofdrug, and the monitoring client 2 may determine if the drugs are safewhen combined as delivered to the patient. The pill dispenser 10 mayalso communicate with the infusion pumps 4 and 6, and/or themicroinfusion pump 9 to make the same determination; In this exemplaryembodiment, the pill dispenser 10 may communicate with the devicesdirectly (e.g., wirelessly or through wired communications) or throughthe monitoring client 2 (e.g., wirelessly or through wiredcommunications) to determine if the intravenously delivered liquid makesthe dispending of a pill (e.g., a pill that will be delivered shortly oris scheduled to be delivered as indicated by the pill dispensingschedule) safe for the patient and/or if the intravenously deliveredliquid is contraindicated with the pill.

In some embodiments, if the treatment regime is determined to be safe bythe pill dispenser 10, the EMR 17, or the DERS 20, a prompt may requestuser confirmation of the treatment regime. In this exemplary embodiment,after user confirmation, the user (e.g., caregiver, nurse, or otherauthorized person) may press the dispense button 18.

In some embodiments, if the pill dispenser 10, the EMR 17 and/or theDERS 20 determines that the treatment regime exceeds a first set ofcriteria, treatment may continue if the user confirms the treatment(e.g., with an additional warning, user passcode, and/or additionalauthentication or authorization, etc.); in this embodiment, the pilldispenser 10, the EMR 17, or the DERS 20 may prevent the treatment frombeing delivered if the pill dispenser 10, the EMR 17 and/or the DERS 20determines that the treatment regime exceeds a second set of criteria,e.g., the treatment is not safe under any circumstances for any patient,for example.

Turning to the drawings, FIG. 2 shows the pill dispenser 10 of FIG. 1 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The pilldispenser 10 includes a body 21 and a receptacle 22 coupled to the body.The pill dispenser 10 also includes an identifying camera 14, a touchscreen 15, and a dispense button 18.

The touch screen 15 provides a visual interface for a user, such as apatient or caregiver, to interact with the pill dispenser 10. In someembodiments, the touch screen 15 may be removable and/or attachable tothe body 21 of the pill dispenser 10.

The identifying camera 14 may be used to authenticate, identify orauthorize the user using the touch screen 15. In some embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the camera 14 may be a panning camera that panstowards an identified face to center the face within images taken by theidentifying camera 14. Additionally, a microphone 28 and a speaker 29may operate together with the touch screen 15 and the identifying camera14 to facilitate easy user interaction with the pill dispenser 10.

In some embodiments, when the dispenser 10 commences dispensing a pill,such as when button 18 is pressed or when a dispense command is receivedfrom monitoring client 2, a pill-dispensing mechanism within the pilldispenser 10 dispenses a pill via a nozzle 23 (a type of opening) out ofthe body 21. For example, in one specific embodiment: (1) a cartridgeincludes a plurality of spring-loaded doors each with a flange; (2) anactuator of the pill-dispensing mechanism may engage the flange to openthe door to dispense the pill; and/or (3) the actuator may be coupled toa linear actuator that can slide the actuator to a location to open thedoor. The pill may enter into a cup 24 secured by a cup holder 25 of thereceptacle 22. In some embodiments, the cup 24 may contain a transparentwindow, such as a transparent bottom of the cup.

In other embodiments, when the dispenser 10 commences dispensing a pill,a pill-dispensing mechanism within the pill dispenser 10 dispenses apill to a shelf within body 21. In one specific embodiment, uponcompletion of pill verification (e.g., via processor 30 analysis of animage captured of the pill within the shelf), a spring loaded doorassociated with shelf within the body 21 may open such that the pill maybe dispensed via a nozzle 23 (a type of opening) out of the body 21. Thedoor may be controlled by an actuator. The pill may enter then into acup 24 secured by a cup holder 25 of the receptacle 22. In someembodiments, the shelf within body 21 may contain a transparent window,such as a transparent bottom or floor.

A first pill-identifying camera 26 can capture an image of the pillwithin the pill viewing location (e.g. a cup 24 or a shelf within thebody 21). Additionally or alternatively, a second pill-viewing camera 27can capture an image of the pill via a transparent window (e.g.transparent bottom of cup 24 or transparent floor of the shelf withinbody 21). In one specific embodiment, the second pill-viewing camera 27may be integrated into the receptacle 22.

The pill-viewing cameras 26 and 27 may be used to identify the pill(e.g., to determine that the pill is the correct pill as indicated by apill dispensing schedule and/or a prescription stored therein) and/ormay be used to determined compliance, e.g., to ensure that the patienttakes it. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the identifyingcamera 14 and/or the microphone 28 may be used to determine compliance.

The pill-viewing cameras 26 and/or 27 may identify the pill by comparingcharacteristics of the pill with a database 39 (see FIG. 3 ). Forexample, a processor 30 (see FIG. 3 ) may identifying the pill using oneor both of the pill-viewing cameras 26 and/or 27 by using a color of thepill, a shape of the pill, characters on the pill (e.g., using opticalcharacter recognition), and a plurality of colors of the pill.

The pill dispenser 10 also optionally includes a scale 31. In someembodiments, the scale 31 may be integrated into the receptacle 22. Theprocessor 30 may identify the pill based upon an estimated weight of thepill using the scale 31. The weight of the pill may be estimated bysubtracting an estimated weight of the cup 24 disposed within thereceptacle 22 from the weight as measured by the scale 31. The weight ofthe cup 24 may be preprogrammed and/or may be measured prior todispensing a pill through the nozzle 23 into the cup 24.

In other embodiments, the scale 31 may be integrated with the shelf inthe body 21. In such embodiments, the weight of the pill may beestimated by subtracting the weight of the shelf within the body 21 fromthe weight as measured by the scale 31. The weight of the shelf may bepreprogrammed and/or may be measured prior to dispensing a pill onto theshelf.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a system 32 for controlling the pilldispenser 10 of FIG. 2 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The system 32 includes a control system 33, apill-dispensing mechanism 35, and one or more sensors 34. The system 32also includes output devices, such as the touch screen 15 and thespeaker 29 (also see FIG. 2 ). The system 32 may include one or morecommunication components for communications, for example the transceiver45. The control system 33, the pill-dispensing mechanism 35, the one ormore sensors 34, the transceiver 45, the touch screen 15, and/or thespeaker 29 may be connected together using one or more buses, usingwired or wireless serial communications, using wired or wirelessparallel communications, single- or multi-channel communications, orusing any known communication method, technology, mechanism orinterface.

The control system 33 is coupled to the pill-dispensing mechanism 35 todispense one or more pills. The control system 33 receives various datafrom the one or more sensors 34 (e.g., the data may be user input) andcan output data via the touch screen 15 and/or the speaker 29 tocommunicate to a user. The control system 33 instructs thepill-dispensing mechanism 35 to dispense one or more pills, e.g., inaccordance with a pill dispensing schedule.

The control system 33 includes a processor 30 coupled to a memory 36.The processor 30 and memory 36 may be coupled together through a serialconnection, a parallel connection, a memory bus, or other datacommunications link.

The processor 30 may include one or more cores, may use any instructionset, and/or may use any instruction set architecture ormicroarchitecture. For example, the processor 30 may have the VonNeumann architecture, the Harvard architecture, may be amicrocontroller, may use a MIPS instruction set, a RISC instruction set,and/or a CISC instruction set, etc.

The memory 36 may be any computer-readable medium, processor readablemedium, or storage medium. For example, the memory 36 may include one ormore memories, such as volatile memory, non-volatile memory, a harddisk, magnetic storage, flash storage, flash ROM, ROM, EEPROM,optical-based memory, memory combining data and instructions, memoryhaving separate memories for data and executable instructions (e.g., aHarvard architecture processor), other non-transitory processor 30readable medium, the like, or some combination thereof. The memory 36may be readable by one or more processors 30 and may be implemented byany readable memory device, such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a computerdiskette that may have computer readable program code segments storedthereon. The memory 36 may also include a communication or transmissionmedium, such as, a bus or a communication link, either optical, wired orwireless communication link having program code segments carried thereonas digital or analog data signals that may be sent to the processor 30.

The control system 33 includes a therapy layer 37, a control layer 38,and a database 39 for storing data (e.g., to facilitate theidentification of a pill as mentioned herein). The therapy layer 37 andthe control layer 38 may be implemented in hardware, software, softwarein execution on the processor 30, firmware, microcode, assembly,virtualization, bytecode, VHDL, Verilog, a PAL, a PLD, a CPLD, the like,or some combination thereof. For example, the therapy layer 37 and/orthe control layer 38 may be stored in the memory 36 as an operative setof processor 30 executable instructions configured for execution on oneor more of the processors 30.

The therapy layer 37 may instruct the control layer 38 when and how manypills to dispense from one or more of the pill cartridges 40, 41, and42. For example, the therapy layer 37 may instruct the control layer 38to discharge three pills from the pill cartridge 40 and 2 pills from thepill cartridge 41, etc.

The control layer 38 receives a pill dispense command from the therapylayer 37 and controls the position of the one or more actuators 43 todispense the pills. For example, the control layer 38 may implement aproportional-integral-derivative (“PID”) control algorithm having anoutput to the driver circuitry 44 and feedback from the actuators 43;the set point of the PID control algorithm may be a full or partialrotation of one or more stepper motors (e.g., a type of actuator 43)which corresponds to the dispensing of one pill from the pill cartridge40, for example.

As previously mentioned, the control system 33 outputs one or moresignals to the driver circuit 44 that drives the actuator 43. The drivercircuitry 44 may include power MOSFETs, voltage converters, powerconverters, and/or additional circuitry to receive instructions from thecontrol system 33 and apply one or more sufficient signals to the one ormore actuators 43.

The pill dispensing mechanism 35 may includes pill cartridges 40, 41,and 42. The pill cartridges 40, 41 and 42 may each have a respectivememory, e.g., memories 46, 47, and 48, respectively. The memories 46,47, and 48 may include a pill dispensing schedule for a respective pillcartridge, a treatment regime, serial numbers, inventory informationrelated to the pills within the pill cartridges, the number of pillsremaining within a cartridge, the number of pills dispensed from thecartridge, encryption keys, patient information, patient serial numbers(e.g., the designated patient for the cartridge), DEA numbers, the nameof the pharmacy that filled the prescription, the pharmacy's address ortelephone number, the patient's name, the name of the pharmacists thatfilled the prescription, the license number of the pharmacist thatfilled the prescription, the expiration date of the pills, the maximumnumber of pills that may be delivered within a predetermined amount oftime, etc.

As previously mentioned, the system 32 includes one or more sensors 34.The sensors 34 optionally includes one or more of: the firstpill-viewing camera 26, the second pill-viewing camera 27, theidentifying camera 14, the microphone 28, the dispense button 18, ascanner 59, the scale 31, an ambient temperature sensor 60, an ambientlight sensor 61, a global positioning system component 62, a biometricsensor 63, and an RFID interrogator 64.

The scanner 59 may be a barcode scanner, a camera (e.g., an additionalcamera) adapted to read a barcode, an RFID transponder (e.g., anotherRIFD transponder), and/or a laser barcode scanner.

The ambient temperature sensor 60 may measure the temperature of the airsurrounding the pill dispenser 10. The processor 30 is in operativecommunication with the ambient temperature sensor 60 to receive thetemperature measurement therefrom.

The ambient light sensor 61 may measure light around the pill dispenser10. The processor 30 may use the ambient light sensor 61 to adjust thebrightness of the touch screen 15. For example, in very brightcondition, the processor 30 may increase the brightness of the touchscreen 15.

The global positioning system 62 may determine the geographic positionof the pill dispenser 10 and communicate the position to the processor30.

The biometric identification component 63 may send biometric informationto the processor 30. The processor 30 may use the biometric informationto authorize and/or authenticate a user, a patient and/or a caregiver.The biometric identification component 63 may be a microphone, a camera,a fingerprint scanner, a hand scanner, an iris scanner, or a retinascanner.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the server 16 of FIG. 1 in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure. The server 16 includes aprocessor 66, a memory 67, a transceiver 65, and a database 19.

The processor 66 is coupled to the memory 67. The memory 67 may includeone or more processor-executable instructions configured for executionon the processor 66. The server 16 can receive queries from the pilldispenser 10 or the monitoring client 2 (see FIG. 1 ) via thetransceiver 65.

The processor 66 interacts with the database 19 to respond to the query.The database 19 includes electronic medical records 17 having biometricdata 68 of a user or a patient. The database 19 also includes a drugerror reduction system 20.

The database 19 may be a Structured Query Language (“SQL”) baseddatabase, a relational database, a MySQL database, an active database, acloud database, a data warehouse, a distributed database, an embeddeddatabase, an in-memory database, a parallel database, or the like.

The server 16 may interact with the pill dispenser 10 to: (1)authenticate a user, a caregiver, a patient, or other person; (2) trackthe location of the pill dispenser 10; (3) verify the data, theinstructions, the prescription, or other information within the pilldispenser 10; (4) prevent unauthorized use of the pill dispenser 10; (5)disable the pill dispenser 10 in the event of a detected theft ormalfunction; (6) upload log data from the pill dispenser 10 to theserver 16; (7) upload images taken via the pill dispenser 10 into theserver 16; (8) upload compliance data from the pill dispenser 10 intothe server 16; (9) communicate alarms, alerts, or reminders from thepill dispenser 10 to the server 16; (10) communicate billing informationwhen a pill is dispensed from the pill dispenser 10 to the server 16;(11) relay information from patient-care devices through the pilldispenser 10 to the server 16; and/or (12) provide secure communicationsbetween the pill dispenser 10 and the server 16.

Refer now to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4 , for a description of someembodiments of the present disclosure for preparing the pill dispenser10, verifying the safety of the medications within the pill dispenser10, dispensing a pill from a pill dispenser, determining compliance, andpreventing unauthorized use of the pill dispenser 10; These sections mayalso be used with the pill dispensers of FIGS. 5-14B or any pilldispenser disclosed herein.

Preparing the Pill Dispenser

A physician, caregiver, or other authorized user may use the monitoringclient 2 to remotely send a prescription to a pharmacy that is aprescription for delivering pills using the pill dispenser 10. The pilldispenser 10 may be preloaded at a pharmacy such that the patient cantake the pill dispenser 10 home after it is filled.

The pill dispenser 10 may be loaded at the pharmacy manually, usingautomated technologies, or some combination thereof. For example, thepill cartridges 40, 41, and 42 may be manually or automatically loadedwith pills at the pharmacy. Likewise, the pill cartridges 40, 41, and 42may be manually or automatically loaded into the pill-dispensingmechanism 35 at the pharmacy. In a specific embodiment, the pillcartridges 40, 41, and 42 may be preloaded at the pharmacy such that apharmacists or a pill-loading robot only needs to load the pillcartridges 40, 41, and 42 into the pill-dispensing mechanism 35 (e.g.,automatically or manually). Or, in some embodiments, the pill cartridges40, 41, and 42 are loaded at the pharmacy with pills (e.g., by thepharmacists or pill-loading robot) and then are loaded into thepill-dispensing mechanism 35.

For example, the pharmacy may include one or more computers connected toa network, e.g., the internet, to receive the prescription and queue theprescription within the one or more computers. The pharmacy may use theprescription to compound the drug (e.g., using an automated compoundingdevice coupled to the one or more computers or manually by a pharmacistsviewing the queue of the one or more computers)

An automated pill-loading robot may then fill the pill cartridges 40, 41and 42 in accordance with the prescription received from the pharmacycomputer. The pill-loading robot may also fill the pill dispenser 10with the pill cartridges 40, 41 and 42 in accordance with theprescription. The pill-loading robot may then program the pill dispenser10 in accordance with the prescription. For example, a treatment regime,such as a pill dispensing schedule, is programmed into the pilldispenser 10 via a data download device. In some embodiments, the pilldispenser 10 may be automatically programmed by the automatedcompounding device, the pill-loading robot, or a data download device(e.g., the data download device may be integrated with the pill-loadingrobot and/or the compounding robot in some embodiments). Thepill-dispensing schedule, the prescription, treatment information, orother information may be loaded into the memory of the pill dispenser10. The automated compounding device, the automated pill-loading robot,and the data download device may be integrated together or may beseparate and distinct.

The automated compounding device or pill-loading robot may generate abarcode, an RFID tag and/or data. The information within the barcode,the RFID tag, and/or the data may include the treatment regime, theprescription, the pill dispensing schedule, and/or patient information.The automated compounding device or pill-loading robot may: attach thebarcode to the pill dispenser 10 or a pill cartridge 40, 41, or 42 ofthe pill dispenser 10; attach the RFID tag to the pill dispenser 10 or apill cartridge 40, 41, or 42 of the pill dispenser 10; and/or program anRFID tag or memory within the pill dispenser 10 or a pill cartridge 40,41, or 42 of the pill dispenser 10 with the information or data. Thedata or information may be sent to a database 19 (see FIG. 4 ) thatassociates the prescription with the pill dispenser 10 or a pillcartridge 40, 41, or 42 of the pill dispenser 10, e.g., using a serialnumber or other identifying information within the barcode, RFID tag, ormemory.

Verifying the Safety of the Medications within the Pill Dispenser

The pill dispenser 10 may have a scanner, e.g., an RFID interrogatorthat interrogates or a barcode scanner such as one using a camera 14, todetermine that the pills within the pill dispenser 10 corresponds to theparticular patient (e.g., as determined from a patient's barcode, RFID,or other patient identification). For example, a serial number of thepill dispenser 10 and a serial number of a patient are compared toserial numbers in electronic medical records 17 in a database 19 todetermine if they correctly match with an entry of the patient asindicated by the patient's serial number or the patient's name withinthe electronic medical records 17. The pill dispenser 10 may scan anRFID tag or barcode of a patient to obtain a serial number of thepatient using one or more of the scanner 59, the RFID interrogator 64,or the identifying camera 14. In some specific embodiments, the scannerof the pill dispenser 10 may include a copy of the patient's serialnumber, and the pill dispenser 10 may only operate when it scans an RFIDtag or barcode having the proper patient identification encoded therein.In some embodiments, the serial numbers may be encrypted. The pilldispenser 10 may issue an error or alarm if the serial numbers do notmatch, in some specific embodiments.

Additionally or alternatively, the monitoring client 6 may scan the pilldispenser 10 or a cartridge of the pill dispenser 10 to determine thatit contains the correct pills within a pill cartridge, the treatmentprogrammed into the pill dispenser 10 corresponds to the pilldispenser's 10 serial number, and/or the pill dispenser 10 or thecartridges of the pill dispenser 10 are correct for the particularpatient (e.g., as determined from a patient's barcode, RFID, or otherpatient identification). Additionally or alternatively, the monitoringclient 6 or pill dispenser 10 may interrogate an electronic medicalrecords database 68 and/or the pharmacy to verify the accuracy of theprescription as located within the memory of the pill dispenser 10 ormay download the prescription into the memory (e.g., memory 36) of thepill dispenser 10, e.g., using a serial number encoded in a barcode onthe pill dispenser 10.

For example, a scanner of the monitoring client 2 may scan the pilldispenser 10 and download the prescription to program the pill dispenser10 via a wireless or wired connection. The monitoring client 2 may thenscan a barcode or RFID tag of a patient (e.g., using the scanner 59, theRFID interrogator 64, or the identifying camera 14). The monitoringclient 2 may interrogate electronic medical records 17 of the server 16to ensure that the pill dispenser's 10 serial number matches with thepill dispensing schedule and the patient's serial number as indicated bythe electronic medical records 17 of the server.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the monitoring client 2communicates with EMR records 17 within the server 16 to verify that thepreprogrammed treatment information received from the pill dispenser 10is safe for an identified patient and/or the preprogrammed treatmentinformation matches the prescribed treatment stored in the EMR records17 (see FIG. 4 ).

When a pill is dispensed, the pill dispenser 10 may check the safety ofthe pill. For example, the pill-viewing cameras 26 and/or 27 mayidentify the pill by comparing characteristics of the pill using aninternal database 39 (see FIG. 3 ) or by using an external database 19of a server 16. For example, a processor 30 (see FIG. 3 ) may beprogrammed to identify the pill using one or both of the pill-viewingcameras 26 and/or 27 by using a color of the pill, a shape of the pill,characters on the pill (e.g., using optical character recognition), anda plurality of colors of the pill. If the pill dispenser 10 determinesthat the dispensed pill does not match the pill as indicated within oneor more of the memories 46, 47, and/or 48, the pill dispenser 10 mayalarm, e.g., by displaying on the touch screen 15 “Do not take thispill!” accompanied by playing an audio recording via the speaker 29 thatstates “Do not take this pill!” accompanied by a siren, for example.

In some embodiments in which the pill viewing area is within the body21, if the pill dispenser 10 determines that the dispensed pill does notmatch the pill as indicated within one or more of the memories 46, 47,and/or 48, the pill dispenser 10 may retain the pill in the body 21. Thepill dispenser 10 may play an audio recording via the speaker 29 thatstates “Medication error. Please contact your medical professional.”Alternatively, if the processor determines the pill is of apre-determined non-critical nature, then the pill dispenser 10 may stilldispense the pill into the cup 24 and may play an audio recording viathe speaker 29 that states “Do not take this pill. Please discard andconfirm,” for example.

The functions of the image analysis unit, the pill-dispensinginstructor, and the compliance determining unit may all be performed bya single processor, such as the processor 30. Although it has beendescribed that a single processor 30 is configured to perform thefunctions of the image analysis unit, the pill-dispensing instructor,and the compliance determining unit, it should be appreciated that thefunctions of the image analysis unit, the pill-dispensing instructor,and the compliance determining unit may be performed by separateprocessors.

As previously mentioned, the pill dispenser 10 also optionally includesa scale 31. The processor 31 may further identify the pill based upon anestimated weight of the pill using the scale 31. The weight of the pillmay be estimated by subtracting an estimated weight of the pill viewinglocation (e.g. the cup 24 disposed within the receptacle 22 or the shelfdisposed within body 21) from the weight as measured by the scale 31.The weight of the pill viewing location may be preprogrammed and/or maybe measured prior to dispensing a pill into the pill viewing location.

After dispensing the pill, the pill dispenser 10 may display an image ofthe pill, e.g., as stored within the database 39, and request userconfirmation on the touch screen 15 that the image of the pill matchesthe pill within the cup 24. If the user indicates that the pill does notmatch the image, the pill dispenser may alarm to notify the user to nottake the pill and send the alarm to the server 16. The pill dispenser 10may also disable itself, in some specific embodiments.

In some embodiments, the functionality described above may beimplemented by the monitoring client 2, e.g., the pill dispenser 10 maybe a slave device to the monitoring client 2.

Identifying and Authorizing a User of the Pill Dispenser

The pill dispenser 10 may include various user or patient identificationfeatures to ensure that the person dispensing the pills is authorized.For example, in some specific embodiments, the user must be identifiedand authorized prior to allowing a pill to be dispensed by the pilldispenser 10. The identification and/or authentication of a user may beperformed by using the identifying camera 14, using the microphone 28,using the scanner 59, using the global positioning system component 62,using the biometric sensor 63, using the RFID interrogator, using thetouch screen 15, or some combination thereof. In some embodiments, theidentification, authentication, or authorization of a user describedherein may be accompanied with a username and password login using thetouch screen 15.

The identifying camera 14 may capture an image of a user in front of thepill dispenser 10 when an indication has been made by the user todispense a pill, e.g., via the touch screen 15 and/or by pressing thedispense button 18. The identifying camera 14 may also capture an imageafter the dispense button 18 is pressed, such as after a predeterminedtime, in accordance with a predetermined schedule, or until an image ofa face is captured. The image may be encrypted and communicated to theserver 16 for storage of the image, e.g., via the transceiver 45 of thepill dispenser 10 and the transceiver 65 of the server 16.

Additionally or alternatively, a facial recognition algorithm mayidentify the user by comparing characteristics of the user against aninternal database 39 of the pill dispenser 10 and/or by comparingcharacteristics of the user against biometric data 68 of a user in theelectronic medical records 17 of the database 19 of the server 16. Thefacial recognition algorithm may determine if the identified user is anauthorized or unauthorized user. The identity of the user and whetherthe identified user is an authorized user may be communicated by thepill dispenser 10 to the server 16.

The identifying camera 14 may also decode a barcode within its field ofview to determine authorization. For example, a patient, a caregiver, ora user may be required to display a bar-coded badge, for example, to theidentifying camera 14 prior to dispensing the pill.

The identifying camera 14 may be a panning camera. The facialrecognition algorithm (e.g., running on the processor 30) may identifythe presence of a face (with or without identifying the identity of theface) and pan the camera towards to the face, e.g., to center the facewithin the field of view of the camera, for example.

The microphone 28 of the pill dispenser may be used to determine if theuser (e.g., a patient or a caregiver) is authorized to dispense a pill,e.g., as scheduled or as needed. The user may be required to say apassword at a prompt of the pill dispenser 10 via the touch screen 15 orthe speaker 29.

For example, the processor 30 of the pill dispenser may instruct thespeaker to play an audio recording requesting a sequence of words bespoken. The microphone 28 may record sound. The processor 30 may becoupled to the microphone 28 to authenticate a user in accordance withthe sound. In another embodiment, the monitoring client 2 records a userusing the microphone 28 and authorizes the user using the microphone 28.The monitoring client 2 may communicate a dispense command to the pilldispenser 10 in response to the authorized user and/or may communicatewhether or not a user is authorized to dispense a pill; in thisexemplary embodiment, the monitoring client 2 may play a series of wordsvia the speaker 29 that the user is requested to recite back to themicrophone 28 of the monitoring client 2.

In another embodiment, the pill dispenser 10, via control by theprocessor 30, may communicate with the server 16 to query the electronicmedical records 17. The pill dispenser 10 may download voice data frombiometric data of a user 68 from the electronic medical records 17within the server 16. The voice data may be voice information of one ormore authorized users. The pill dispenser 10 may use the biometric datato determine if a recorded voice is an authorized user as indicated bythe electronic medical records' 17 entry.

The pill dispenser 10 may use the scanner 59 to determine if a user isan authorized user prior to dispensing a pill. The scanner 59 may be abarcode scanner, a camera adapted to read a barcode (e.g., anothercamera), an RFID transponder, and a laser barcode scanner. The scanner59 may scan a card, a wristband or clothing of a user to identify and/ordetermine if a user is an authorized user.

The pill dispenser 10 also includes the global positioning systemcomponent 62 that can determine the location of the pill dispenser 10.The global positioning sensor component 62 may be used to determine thegeographic position of the pill dispenser 10, such as the latitude, thelongitude, the country, the state, the county, the city, the town, etc.of the pill dispense 10. The processor 30 may use the position asdetermined from the global positioning system component 62 to determineif the position of the pill dispenser 10 is within a predeterminedauthorized area. The pill dispenser 10, for example, may only dispense apill when the pill dispenser 10 is within the predetermined authorizedarea and/or when the user is using the pill dispenser 10 within thepredetermined authorized area. When the pill dispenser 10 is outside ofthe predetermined authorized area, the pill dispenser 10 may alarm viathe speaker 29 and/or may communicate to the server 16 that the pilldispenser 10 is outside of the predetermined authorized area and mayalso communicate its position to the pill dispenser 10.

In some embodiments, a position of a user may be communicated to thepill dispenser 10. For example, a Smartphone or other device in thepossession of the user may communicate its position to the pilldispenser 10, e.g., via the internet. The pill dispenser 10 will onlydispense a pill, in some specific embodiments, if the authorized userand the pill dispenser 10 are within a predetermined distance of eachother. The pill dispenser 10 may determine its position using the globalpositioning system component 62 and may determine the position of theuser via the communication component, e.g., the transceiver 45.

The pill dispenser 10 may also determine if a user is authorized todispense a pill by using the biometric sensor 63 (a type of biometricidentification component). The biometric sensor 63 may be controlled byand is communication with the processor 30 of the pill dispenser 10.

The pill dispenser 10 may authentication, identify, and/or authorize auser by using biometric data sensed by the biometric sensor 63. Thebiometric sensor 63 may be a microphone, a camera, a fingerprintscanner, a hand scanner, an iris scanner, and/or a retina scanner. Thepill dispenser 10 may query the electronic medical records 17 todownload biometric data of one or more authorized users 68 from thedatabase 19 of the server 16. The pill dispenser 10 may determine if thebiometric data from the biometric sensor 63 corresponds to a user asindicated by the electronic medical records 17. The biometric data mayalso indicate whether the user is authorized to dispense a pill or ispresently authorized to dispense a pill e.g., some users may beauthorized only during certain periods of times.

The pill dispenser 10 may also use the RFID interrogator 64 to determineif a user is authorized to dispense a pill. For example, the database 39of the pill dispenser 39 may store a list of numbers associated withauthorized users. The RFID interrogator 64 may interrogate an RFID tagof a person (e.g., as found on an ID tag, a credit card size device,access badge, or wristband). If the serial number of the user is listedas being authorized, the pill dispenser 10 may dispense a pill, in someembodiments. Additionally or alternatively, the pill dispenser 10 maydownload a list of numbers associated with the authorized user from theelectronic medical records 17 of the database 19 of the server 16.

In some embodiments, the functionality described above may beimplemented by the monitoring client 2, e.g., the pill dispenser 10 maybe a slave device to the monitoring client 2 in some specificembodiments

Dispensing a Pill

As previously mentioned, a pill may be dispensed by the pill dispenser10 in accordance with a predetermined dispensing schedule, when needed(e.g., when the memory 46 within the pill cartridge 40 designates one ormore pills as an as-needed pill), when dispensing the pill does notexceed predetermined safety criteria (e.g., as in the memory 46 or asdetermined via DERS 20) for the particular patient or for any patient,when a user, caregiver, or patient has been authorized, when the pilldispenser 10 is within an authorized area, when the pill dispenser 10 iswithin a predetermined distance to a user, and/or when no errorconditions or internal flags have been determined by the processor 30 towarrant the prevention of the dispensing of pills. In some embodiments,these features may be implemented by the monitoring 2. For example, themonitoring client 2 may completely control the operation of the pilldispenser 10, in some specific embodiments.

In some embodiments, a pill will only be dispensed when the dispensebutton 18 is pressed. For example, the pill is dispensed after thepatient presses the dispense button 18 and the identifying camera 14captures an image. The touch screen 15 and/or the speaker 29 may audiblyor visually remind a patient to take a pill. The reminder may be aprerecorded voice of a person. For example, the reminder may be arecorded voice of a daughter stating “Please take your pill mother! It'stime to take it! I want you to be healthy!” or similar recording. Insome embodiments, the monitoring client 2 may perform these reminderfunctions and may display an image or video of the relative. The pilldispenser 10 may initiate the reminder of the monitoring client 2 (via adigital communication signal) or the monitoring client 2 may initiatethe dispensing of the pill while playing the reminder using the touchscreen, for example, of the monitoring client 2. In some embodiments,the reminder is initiated if compliance is not determined to haveoccurred within a predetermined amount of time.

When the pill is dispensed, the pill dispenser 10 and/or the monitoringclient 2 may display a graphic illustrating how to take the pill. Thegraphic may be accompanied by audio; for example, a text-to-speechalgorithm may convert text stored therein to speech. Additionally oralternatively, spoken words of the user may also be converted to textand stored within the memory 36 for later retrieval.

After the pill is taken, patient-care parameters may be monitored todetermine the efficacy of the pill. For example, blood pressure may bemonitored and communicated to the server 16 after a blood pressure pillis dispensed. After the pill is dispensed, a bill may be communicated bythe pill dispenser to the server 16 such that a bill may be prepared,e.g., prepared for the patient, an insurance company and/or athird-party.

In some embodiments, the functionality described above may beimplemented by the monitoring client 2, e.g., the pill dispenser 10 maybe a slave device to the monitoring client 2.

Determining Compliance

After the pill is dispensed, the pill dispenser 10 may determine thecompliance of taking the pill. The pill dispenser 10 may determinecompliance by using the first pill-viewing camera 26, the secondpill-viewing camera 27, the identifying camera 14, or another cameraposition adjacent to the cup 24.

The pill dispenser 10 may capture a first image using the firstpill-viewing camera 26, the second pill-viewing camera 27, theidentifying camera 14, or another camera position adjacent to the cup 24to capture one or more additional images of the pill. The pill dispenser10 may continue to capture one or more images to determine if/when thepill is removed. In some specific embodiments, the pill dispenser 10 maydetermine that compliance has occurred if the pill is removed.

In some additional embodiments, the pill dispenser 10 may also requirethat an authorized user or a particular user be present in the field ofview of the identifying camera 14 about when the pill is dispensedand/or when the dispense button 18 is pressed to determine thatcompliance has occurred.

In some specific embodiments, the pill dispenser 10 may require that animage of the pill and a specific user be present in an image taken bythe identifying camera 14 to determine that compliance has occurred. Inyet additional embodiments, the pill dispenser 10 may require that thespecific user and a bottom of a cup 24 appear in an image taken by theidentifying camera 14 to determine that compliance has occurred.

The pill dispenser 10 may instruct the identifying camera 14 to captureone or more images in accordance with a predetermined schedule, e.g., inaccordance with a schedule after the dispense button 18 is pressed, oruntil a face is identified within an image captured by the identifyingcamera 14. The images captured by the identifying camera 14 may beencrypted and sent to the server 16 for storage.

After dispensing the pill, the pill dispenser 10 may display an image ofthe pill, e.g., as stored within the database 39, and request userconfirmation on the touch screen 15 that the image of the pill matchesthe pill within the cup 24. After user confirmation, the pill dispenser10 may prompt the user asking if the user took the pill. If the userconfirms that the pill was taken, then pill dispenser 10 may determinethat the patient has been compliant. Additionally or alternatively, ifthe user does not confirm that the pill was taken, the pill dispenser 10may audibly sound a reminder. In some embodiments, the monitoring client2 prompts the user to determine compliance.

In some embodiments, the pill dispenser 10 may use different methods oftracking compliance based on the type of pill being dispensed,instructions provided by a medical professional, or selectedpreferences, which preferences may be set, for example, by the patientfor whom the pill is prescribed, by family members, or by others.

In some embodiments, the pill dispenser 10 may automatically dispensepills in accordance with the pill-dispensing schedule. For example, thepill dispenser may dispense a vitamin and sound an audible reminder forthe patient to take the vitamin.

The compliance may be logged by the pill dispenser 10. The compliancedata and/or the log data may be stored internally within the database19, may be communicated to the monitoring client 2, and/or may becommunicated to the server 16 for storage within the database 19. Thelog entry may include one or more of voice data of a user used toauthenticate the user, an image of the user used to authenticate theuser, an image of the pill from the first pill-viewing camera 26, animage of the pill from a second pill-viewing camera 27, a location ofthe pill-dispensing mechanism, a time stamp, a date stamp, a patient IDfrom an RFID tag, a nurse ID from another RFID tag, an ambienttemperature value, and/or an ambient light value. In some embodiments,the log entry is entered into an RFID tag, such as an RFID tag attachedto the patient.

In some embodiments, the monitoring client 2 may be remote from the pilldispenser 10. For example, the monitoring client 2 may be a Smartphone.The monitoring client 2 may display a calendar using compliance data orusing data from the log downloaded from the pill dispenser, from thedatabase 19 or as stored therein. The calendar may indicate which daysthe patient was compliant. For example, the calendar may show blue forcompliant days and red for non-compliant days. An authorized user maymodify the prescription using the interface of the monitoring client 2,e.g., in response to the non-compliant days. The monitoring client 2and/or the user of the monitoring client 2 may be authenticated and/orauthorized prior to viewing or modifying the pill dispensing scheduleusing any authentication or authorization mentioned herein, e.g., usinga username and a password.

If the pill dispenser 10 and/or the monitoring client 2 have determinedthat noncompliance has occurred, then one of the pill dispenser 10and/or the monitoring 2 may initiate two-way communications, e.g., suchas a VoIP call or a telephone call. For example, the monitoring 2 may bea smart phone of a relative. If the pill dispenser 10 determines thatnon-compliance has occurred, the monitoring client 2 may prompt the userto call the pill dispenser 10, which initiates a video conferencebetween the pill dispenser 10 and the monitoring client 2.

In yet another specific embodiment, the pill dispenser 10 may dispense apill and activate its identifying camera 14 for remote viewing. Acentral viewing center may monitor the identifying camera 14 of the pilldispenser 10. An operator at the central viewing center may determinecompliance, such as by watching the patient take the pill and loggingthe determined compliance. The operator may have the ability to monitormany pill dispensers 10. For example, the central viewing center may bepart of a subscription service.

In some embodiments, the monitoring client 2 and/or the pill dispenser10 may be used to capture images of other pills in the possession of apatient (e.g., pills not in the pill dispenser, but prescribed to thepatient). The monitoring client 2, the pill dispenser 10, or the sever16 may keep track of the pills taken and determine if one or more pillswithin the pill dispenser 10 may be safely taken with the pills (e.g.,the pill dispenser 10 may have its pill-dispensing schedule modified,the dispensing of certain pills may be prohibited, or otherwise acaregiver may be alerted if it is determined that dispensing a pillwould be unsafe for a patient in light of other pills taken). In someembodiments, an image of the prescription label may be taken by the pilldispenser and/or the monitoring client 10, or other identificationtechniques of the prescription may be used (e.g., using a scanner), forthe same reasons as described herein.

In some embodiments, the functionality described above may beimplemented by the monitoring client 2, e.g., the pill dispenser 10 maybe a slave device to the monitoring client 2 in some specificembodiments

Preventing Unauthorized Use of the Pill Dispenser

When the pill is dispensed from the pill dispenser 10, the pilldispenser 10 and/or the monitoring client 2 may capture one or moreimages using the identifying camera 14 of a camera of the monitoringclient 2, respectively. The images may be taken in accordance with apredetermined schedule or until a face is identified in an image whenthe dispense button 18 is pressed. The one or more images may becommunicated to the server 16 for storage and/or may be storedinternally. The images may be communicated to the server 16 to determineif an image of an authorized user is in the image. The pill dispenser 10and/or the monitoring client 2 may determine if the user is anauthorized user and send that determination to the server 16 with orwithout the images. The images may be encrypted, e.g., using a key of anasymmetrical or a symmetrical encryption scheme. The storage of theimages may be used in the event the pill dispenser 10 has been stolen,for example. The pill dispenser 10 and/or the monitoring client 2 mayaudibly and/or visually alarm if an unauthorized person attempts to usethe pill dispenser, e.g., after a predetermined number of attemptedlogins, for example.

Additionally, any attempt to use the pill dispenser 10 and/or themonitoring client 2 may be logged and stored. For example, the pilldispenser 10 may also determine if a user is authorized to dispense apill by using the biometric sensor 63. The pill dispenser 10 may deny aperson the use of the pill dispenser and may log the biometricinformation. The biometric information may be communicated to the sever16 for storage within the database 19 along with the indication of theattempted use.

As mentioned above, the pill dispenser 10 also includes the globalpositioning system component 62 that can determine the location of thepill dispenser. The global positioning sensor component 62 may be usedto determine the geographic position of the pill dispenser 10, such asthe latitude, the longitude, the country, the state, the county, thecity, the town, etc. of the pill dispenser 10. The processor 30 may usethe position as determined from the global positioning system component62 to determine if the position of the pill dispenser 10 is within apredetermined authorized area. The pill dispenser 10, for example, mayonly dispense a pill when the pill dispenser 10 is within thepredetermined authorized area and/or when the user is using the pilldispenser 10 within the predetermined authorized area. When the pilldispenser 10 is outside of the predetermined authorized area, the pilldispenser 10 may alarm via the speaker 29 and/or may communicate to theserver 16 that the pill dispenser is outside of the predeterminedauthorized area and may also communicate its position to the pilldispenser 10. If it is determined that the pill dispenser 10 is stolen,for example, the global positioning sensor component 62 may be used toassist in locating the pill dispenser 10 by assisting law enforcement.The position of the pill dispenser 10 may be continuously logged by thedatabase 19 to keep track of the pill dispenser 10.

Also as previously mentioned, in some embodiments, a position of a usermay be communicated to the pill dispenser 10. For example, a Smartphoneor other device in the possession of the user may communicate itsposition to the pill dispenser 10, e.g., via the internet. The pilldispenser 10 will only dispense a pill, in some specific embodiments, ifthe authorized user and the pill dispenser 10 are within a predetermineddistance of each other. The pill dispenser 10 may determine its positionusing the global positioning system component 62 and may determine theposition of the user via the communication component, e.g., thetransceiver 45. If it is determined that the pill dispenser 10 has beenstolen using this data, the location data of the user and the locationof the pill dispenser 10 may be used to assist law enforcement inlocating the pill dispenser 10. The position of the user may becontinuously logged by the database 19 to keep track of the location ofthe user.

If the server 16, the monitoring client 2, or the pill dispenser 10determines that the pill dispenser 10 has been stolen, the pilldispenser 10 may disable itself and/or a signal may be sent from theserver 16 or the monitoring client 2 to the pill dispenser 10instructing the pill dispenser 10 to disable itself. Authenticationand/or encryption keys may be used when communicating the signal. Forexample, a secure signature may be used.

In some embodiments, the functionality described above may beimplemented by the monitoring client 2, e.g., the pill dispenser 10 maybe a slave device to the monitoring client 2.

FIG. 5 shows a pill dispenser 69 having a plurality of vertical windows71 in accordance with an additional embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The pill dispenser 69 may be used in addition to and/or inplace of the pill dispenser 10 with system 1 of FIG. 1 , or the pilldispenser 69 may be a standalone device. The pill dispenser 69 may useor include the system 32 of FIG. 3 in some embodiments.

The pill dispenser 70 includes a user interface 70 and a plurality ofviewing windows 71. The windows 71 may show the pills within the one ormore pill cartridges (40, 41, or 42). A user may press the dispenserbutton 72 which then dispenses a pill into the receptacle 73.

FIGS. 6-7 show a pill dispenser 74 having a plurality of verticalwindows 77 below a touch screen 75 in accordance with an additionalembodiment of the present disclosure. The pill dispenser 74 may be usedin addition to and/or in place of the pill dispenser 10 with system 1 ofFIG. 1 , or the pill dispenser 69 may be a standalone device. The pilldispenser 74 may use or include the system 32 of FIG. 3 , in someembodiments.

The pill dispenser 74 includes a touch screen 75 that is coupled to adoor 76 that swings open so that cartridges 78 may be inserted. Thetouch screen 75 may be used to dispense one or more pills into areceptacle 79. The pill dispenser 74 may also include a plurality ofviewing windows 77 that display one or more pills of the one or morepill cartridges 78.

FIG. 8 shows a pill dispenser 80 having a plurality of vertical windows82 below a touch screen 83 and an elongated receptacle 81 in accordancewith an additional embodiment of the present disclosure. The pilldispenser 80 may be used in addition to and/or in place of the pilldispenser 10 with system 1 of FIG. 1 , or the pill dispenser 80 may be astandalone device. The pill dispenser 80 may use the system 32, in someembodiments.

The pill dispenser 80 includes a touch screen 83 disposed on a door 84.There is a plurality of viewing windows 82 to view one or more pills.The pills may be dispensed by pressing the dispense button 85. The pillsmay be dispensed into the receptacle 81.

FIG. 9 shows a pill dispenser 86 having a dispensing mechanism thatdispenses one or more cartridges 90 in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. The pill dispenser 86 may be used in addition toand/or in place of the pill dispenser 10 with system 1 of FIG. 1 , orthe pill dispenser 86 may be a standalone device. The pill dispenser 86may use or include the system 32 of FIG. 3 in some embodiments.

The pill dispenser 86 includes a touch screen 87 and openings 88 and 89.The pill dispenser 86 may dispense a cartridge 91 out the opening 89which may then be used and disposed back in to the opening 88. Thecartridge 91 may include a snap-on lid coupled to the rest of thecartridge 91 through a living hinge. There may be a camera disposedwithin the housing of the pill dispenser 86 (e.g., inside, but above,the opening 88 to view the contents of the cartridge 91 when insertedinto the opening 88) to determine compliance. FIG. 9 shows a stack ofcartridges 90 including the cartridge 91. The pill dispenser 86 may bereturned to a pharmacy for refilling. The pill cartridges 90 may besterilized and/or washed and reused.

FIG. 11 shows a pill dispenser 92 having a secondary housing 95 along aside thereof in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.The secondary housing 95 may house one or more pill cartridges 96. Thesecondary housing 95 may be attachable to and/or detachable from theprimary housing 99. The pill dispenser 92 may be used in addition toand/or in place of the pill dispenser 10 with system 1 of FIG. 1 , orthe pill dispenser 92 may be a standalone device. The pill dispenser 92may use or include the system 32 of FIG. 3 , in some embodiments.

The pill dispenser 92 includes a speaker 94, a microphone 95, and atouch screen 93 to dispense a pill. The pills are dispensed from one ormore cartridges 96 which are dropped into a cup 98 of a receptacle 97.The pill-dispensing mechanism may be within the primary housing 99, inthe secondary housing 95, or may be distributed between of the housings95 and 99.

FIG. 12 shows a pill dispenser 100 having a housing 101 coupled to thecartridge 102 and in sliding engagement with the cartridge 102 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The pilldispenser 100 may be used in addition to and/or in place of the pilldispenser 10 with system 1 of FIG. 1 , or the pill dispenser 100 may bea standalone device. The pill dispenser 100 may use or include thesystem 32 of FIG. 3 , in some embodiments.

The housing 101 includes a touch screen 103 and a dispense button 104coupled thereto. The pill cartridge 102 includes a viewing window 105showing the pills. The housing 101 may slide such that an internalpill-dispensing mechanism may grab the pills stacked vertically anddispense the pills into the receptacle 106.

FIG. 13 shows a pill dispenser 107 having a sliding-door 110 forreceiving the pill in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The pill dispenser 107 may be used in addition to and/or inplace of the pill dispenser 10 with system 1 of FIG. 1 , or the pilldispenser 107 may be a standalone device. The pill dispenser 107 may useor include the system 32 of FIG. 3 , in some embodiments. The pilldispenser 107 includes a touch screen 108 and a dispense button 109. Thedoor 110 can be opened by the knob 111 to dispense a pill.

FIGS. 14A-14B show a pill dispenser 112 capable of receiving pillbottles as pill cartridges in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. FIG. 14A shows a top view of the pill dispenser 112,and FIG. 14B shows a side view of the pill dispenser 112. The pilldispenser 112 may be used in addition to and/or in place of the pilldispenser 10 with system 1 of FIG. 1 , or the pill dispenser 112 may bea standalone device. The pill dispenser 112 may use or include thesystem 32 of FIG. 3 , in some embodiments.

The pill dispenser 112 includes a plurality of recesses 113 each shapedto receive a pill bottle. The cap of a pill bottle may be taken off andthe pill bottle may be placed upside down and inserted into one or theplurality of recesses 113 such that the pills are poured into therecess. The recesses 113, in other embodiments, may include a snap-topdoor such that pills, e.g., a group for each day of scheduled pills tobe taken, may be held within a recess of the plurality of recesses 13.The pills are dispensed out of a trap door 130. The pill-dispensingmechanism may be gumball-type pill dispensing mechanism.

The pill dispenser 112 also includes a touch screen 116, an identifyingcamera 115, and a pill-bottle identifying camera 114. As mentioned, thepill bottle may be opened and placed up-side down into one of therecesses. A camera 114 can rotate around the pill dispenser 112 tocapture one or more images of the labels of the pill bottles includingdosage and scheduling information displayed in text or encoded thereon.In some specific embodiments, the rotation may be made by a circulartrack coupled to stepper motor such that a circular structure having thecamera 114 rests on the circular track and the stepper motor rotates thecircular structure along the track. The stepper motor may be controlledby the one or more processors 30 within the pill dispenser 112.

The pill-bottle identifying camera 114 may use OCR or informationencoded on a barcode to update a pill-dispensing schedule within amemory coupled to a processor 30 therein or to generate apill-dispensing schedule including a dosage schedule. The pill-bottleidentifying camera 114 may read instructions from the label of the pillbottle disposed on the pill dispenser 112. The label information can becompared to a prescription stored in internal memory to determine if anerror has occurred and/or when a refill is expected. Additionally, thepill dispenser 112 may access the prescription stored in internal memoryto determine if a scheduled pill bottle was actually inserted into arecess 13, which may be logged for compliance tracking; for example, abottle of 30 pills should be taken every day starting on the first dayof a particular month, and if no pills were inserted into a recess 13 onthe first day of the particular month, the pill dispenser 112 determinesthat non-compliance has occurred. The pill-bottle identifying camera 114may capture: the time of delivery, the number of tablets, the dosage ofeach pill, the dosage of each scheduled oral taking of one or morepills, when the prescription was filled, a refill time, the pillsindicated by the label to be in the bottle, etc. This information may becommunicated to a caregiver and/or a patient having a monitoring client2.

FIG. 15 shows a pill dispensing mechanism 117 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. A cartridge 118 includes aplurality of containers 119 to house pills. The cartridge 118 may berotated by a stepper motor. A sliding member 120 can slide such that ahole 121 moves adjacent to one of the containers 119 to allow the pillto dispenser. The sliding member 120 may be coupled to a linearactuator, e.g., a linear servo.

FIG. 16 shows a flow chart diagram of a method 122 for dispensing a pillin accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The pilldispenser of method 122 may be any sufficient pill dispenser disclosedherein. The method 122 includes acts 123-129.

Act 123 instructs a pill-dispensing mechanism to dispense a pill. Act124 instructs a first pill-viewing camera to capture a first image ofthe pill. Act 125 determines a presence of the pill within the firstimage. Act 126 instructs the first pill-viewing camera to capture asecond image. Act 127 determines an absence of the pill within thesecond image. Act 128 instructs an identifying camera to capture a thirdimage. Act 129 identifies a user using the third image.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it willbe understood that various modifications may be made. Accordingly, otherimplementations are within the scope of the following claims. Forexample, while various principles have been described herein, it is tobe understood by those skilled in the art that this description is madeonly by way of example and not as a limitation as to the scope of thedisclosure. Other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of thepresent disclosure in addition to the embodiments shown and describedherein. Modifications and substitutions by one of ordinary skill it theart are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed:
 1. A method of dispensing a pill comprising: providinga pill-dispensing mechanism having a pill-viewing area, at least onepill-viewing camera and at least one processor in operativecommunication with the at least one pill-viewing camera andpill-dispensing mechanism; dispensing a pill to said pill-viewing area;capturing an image said pill-viewing area; verifying said dispensed pillis in said pill-viewing area; and identifying said pill using saidcaptured image.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least oneprocessor identifies the pill using at least one of a color of the pill,a shape of the pill, characters on the pill, and a plurality of colorsof the pill as determined using the captured image.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the pill-viewing area is internal to thepill-dispensing mechanism.
 4. The method of claim 1, the pill dispensingmechanism further comprising: a scale, wherein the at least oneprocessor is in operative communication with the scale and receives aweight therefrom.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:estimating a weight of said pill using said scale; and identifying thepill based upon, at least in part, said estimated weight.
 6. The methodof claim 5, further comprising: estimating the weight of the pill bysubtracting an estimated weight of the scale.
 7. The method of claim 1,the pill dispensing mechanism further comprising: a pill-holding areaoutside an opening in said pill-dispensing mechanism; and a secondpill-viewing camera.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:dispensing said pill from said pill-viewing area to said pill-holdingarea; capturing a second image of said pill-holding area via said secondpill-viewing camera; verifying said dispensed pill is in saidpill-holding area; and identifying said pill using said second capturedimage.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the pill-viewing area isinternal to the pill-dispensing mechanism.
 10. The method of claim 7,wherein the at least one processor identifies the pill using at leastone of a color of the pill, a shape of the pill, characters on the pill,and a plurality of colors of the pill as determined using the first andsecond captured images.
 11. The method of claim 7, the pill dispensingmechanism further comprising: a scale, wherein the at least oneprocessor is in operative communication with the scale and receives aweight therefrom.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:estimating a weight of said pill using said scale; and identifying thepill based upon, at least in part, said estimated weight.
 13. The methodof claim 1, wherein the at least one processor does not dispense thepill unless the identity of the pill is determined to be appropriatebased on information from at least one of an electronic medical record,a drug error reduction system, or a monitoring client.